Hey, don’t laugh. We’re not suggesting the Victoria’s SecretMiraculous push-up bra can do anything other than bump up your bust size.

However, a retail analyst said yesterday that VS sales could help deliver an economic Christmas miracle to a struggling nation this year.

John Morris of BMO Capital Markets said strong sales of the Miraculous bra could signal an upturn in consumer spending, a strong overall holiday season for retailers and, perhaps, an economic shot in the arm for the ailing U.S. economy.

Sound like a bit of a stretch? In fact, lingerie sales have long been viewed as a reliable economic indicator, based on the premise that buying an expensive bra is an indulgence — the kind of spending behavior reserved for good times.

“The Bombshell bra (now called the Miraculous) has been selling out, and that’s not because husbands are buying them for their wives,” Morris told USA Today. “It’s the wives buying for themselves.”

That’s a shift from the previous couple of years, he said, when lingerie shoppers stuck to “basics” for themselves and mostly bought lingerie gifts only for others.

The only flaw in this prediction? Victoria’s Secret sales have outpaced the national economy by leaps and bounds for the past year. If that bra is going to boost more than your personal assets this Christmas, it’s still got some heavy lifting to do.

Of course, Victoria’s Secret is betting that Morris’ prediction will come true, and they’re giving us lots of incentive to spend.

The retailer yesterday released a new mini-catalogue — hot on the heels of its holiday catalogue, no less — called the Little Book of Sexy. It features top VS Angels in smoldering pin-up shots that are uncharacteristically steamy even by Victoria’s Secret standards.

Here’s a few shots from the LBS, with Adriana channelling Sophia Loren, Candice doing her best Bardot, and Erin echoing … Britney?